---
In other words—
"Huh? Why… why is this thing with you?"
The girl's mind crashed.
"I was about to ask you… You mixed up my bag with Aki Tomoya's, didn't you?"
Kiyono looked speechless. He could even picture it vividly:
After all the classmates left, the blonde girl sneaked back into the classroom, cheeks flushed, placing cookies into her childhood friend's bag—too shy to double-check the exact desk.
Truly worthy of the legendary Goddess of Losing!
"I–it seems so. I just changed seats recently, you see…"
Eriri's face showed extreme shyness, her eyes turning into spirals. But she caught a key phrase and snapped back to herself, blurting out:
"Th–this isn't a confession!"
"Hm? What is it then?" Kiyono placed the cookie bag into her hand, completely stunned.
"It's just… just a small gift. To make up for things."
Eriri tilted her head, muttering softly. Her head finally cleared.
"…This counts as making up?"
Kiyono was stunned again. He thought about what was in the bag: cookies—and a smiley face of unclear meaning. How were these two even remotely related?
He didn't know how deep the childhood-friend wounds ran, but if they wanted to mend things, a flimsy bag of cookies wouldn't be enough.
"What else do you want me to do? To be precise, until that guy Tomoya takes the initiative to talk, I won't make up with him!"
The blonde girl snorted, the small canine teeth at the corner of her lips showing.
Kiyono was speechless. He gave a thumbs-up to show his admiration.
However, for the sake of the eel rice, he still reminded her, "If you're apologizing, you should at least say it to his face."
"…Why should I apologize? Wait, how do you even know about me and that guy!?"
The tsundere girl suddenly came to her senses, stepping back two paces—she'd almost exposed her true self!
Eriri's expression turned conflicted. In Kiyono's impression, she was the elegant, perfect young lady at school. Fortunately, Kiyono had no friends, so he wouldn't spread it around.
"The incident between you and Aki Tomoya was pretty famous back then. I just happened to hear." Kiyono thought for a moment and produced a random excuse.
"I see… You didn't eat any, did you?"
Eriri pursed her lips, clearly unwilling to linger on sad memories, and changed the subject. It was fine if he knew about her crush on Aki Tomoya, but her identity as a doujinshi artist absolutely couldn't be exposed!
"At first I thought it was for me, so I opened it to look—but don't worry, I didn't secretly eat any of the cookies," Kiyono explained.
"That doesn't matter…"
Sensible enough to know she'd made the first mistake, the girl magnanimously waved her hand.
"Since the item's been delivered, I'll be going now, Sawamura."
Kiyono offered a polite farewell, and they brushed past each other.
Then his hand was grabbed.
He turned to see the blonde girl's pretty face tinged with a rosy blush, much like the setting sun at that moment. Her voice, like her mood, wavered with apprehension:
"Th–that, wait a moment. You're a boy too—could you help me… with some advice?"
She'd run out of options. She had procrastinated two or three years with no progress, finally thought of a method—and it had fallen apart like this…
Generally, Eriri wouldn't make such a request of other classmates. But since her crush was already exposed, she might as well throw caution to the wind.
"No way."
Rejected at light speed!?
Kiyono pouted. As a man who had once stood alongside three losing heroines, he knew this development very well—for example, the request "help me conquer my childhood friend" slowly turning into "accidentally conquering you instead."
"Giving cookies isn't complicated. You just have to hand them to him yourself," he still couldn't help advising.
Although he didn't want to get too close to the losing heroine, if an opportunity arose, he didn't mind lending a hand.
Eriri fell silent.
Sorry. I can't do it.
During lunch break, Eriri headed for the quiet library with drawing paper and pencils—she wasn't in this world merely to fall in love with her childhood friend, but to hone her skills as an artist!
These extra years of practice were enough to transform her from a young prodigy into a true genius!
In fact, this year she'd received many compliments and found it easier to win awards, which made the girl even more delighted and proud.
Comforting herself thus, the blonde found her usual window seat and prepared to sit. Then she jolted like a cat and hid behind a nearby bookshelf, peeking out with just her small head.
A boy sat in the seat opposite hers.
It's him…
Only after confirming his face did she relax and walk out, setting her drawing paper on the desk. But—
"Why are you allowed to bring a computer?"
Arms folded, Eriri pondered. There was a laptop on Kiyono's table, with a book beside it. He was typing continuously.
"I'm the top student in my grade," Kiyono said seriously, looking up.
The blonde fell silent, then sat, smoothing her paper—even as a high-schooler "descended" to a lower grade, she hadn't achieved especially outstanding marks.
A breeze rustled the curtains; dappled sunlight spilled across the wood tabletop; the keystrokes rang crisp among shelves of old books. Eriri lifted her pen, but didn't draw—she held it to her lips, studying Kiyono.
She remembered something from elementary school.
Was his reason for being here the same as hers?
Though popular on the surface, she had no true friends. Unless necessary, she wanted only a quiet space to be alone—a kind of self-isolation.
Kiyono also had no close friends. He came and went alone. No confidants, no bonds. Most of the time he quietly read by himself.
Because of his notorious reputation, everyone shunned him.
He had taken on all the world's malice for another girl, unable to fit into others' circles—enduring a lonely youth alone. For a boy who had wandered since childhood, this must actually be painful, right?
She didn't dare say she was exactly like him—she wasn't as brave—but the loneliness of being rejected by your environment was, surely, the same.
At that moment, the distracted girl heard Kiyono's voice.
"Did you give out the cookies?"
He asked casually while typing. Lunch break wasn't long, so he didn't write the literary novels that required deep thought; he usually used the time to replicate his earlier light novel.
"I've thought of a good idea," Eriri said, eyes bright with confidence.
"Oh? Tell me—I'm very curious about Sawamura's wisdom."
"It's too embarrassing to give them normally, but what if I wait until Valentine's Day! I can pretend I made too many, and then it will be very natural to give them away!" Eriri proudly lifted her chin.
Kiyono was quiet for a while, then said slowly:
"That's a good idea… But there are still several months until the holiday, aren't there?"
"It's okay, there's still plenty of time."
The blonde lowered her head and began sketching. Then she held up the sheet, twin tails swaying. On the paper, a chibi of herself stood chest-out and confident, so lively that Kiyono couldn't help but smile. She really did have a playful, cute personality—somewhat like Yanami.
Of course, that was the only similarity.
Kiyono picked up his water cup—empty. He stood and said casually:
"I'm going to buy a drink. Do you want anything?"
"Hm, orange juice please. I'll pay you back."
Eriri lowered her head and pulled out new manuscript paper.
Just then, the wind outside kicked up, rustling pages and sheets. Frowning, Eriri crossed to the other side of the table and reached to shut the window.
On the way back, her gaze drifted over Kiyono's laptop. The screen displayed a document filled with dense text.
"Eh? This is…"
Her eyes snagged on the familiar prose—and widened.
—
That night.
"Uh… should I address you as Kashiwagi Eri-sensei?"
In the Dengeki Bunko conference room, the short-haired woman serving as associate editor looked with great curiosity at the girl in front of her, face partly obscured by a hat.
Thirty minutes earlier, a famous underground artist had suddenly come by. After seeing her resume, the editor had started discussing work without hesitation.
Repeated awards in joint exhibitions of art-academy students' works; a beautiful style that had caused countless two-dimensional meltdowns… For a bunko imprint desperate for illustrators, this was a rare opportunity.
"Yes, I'd like to collaborate with your company…"
Eriri wore a supremely confident smile. By now, she was practically a super version of Kashiwagi Eri—experience and skill both leveled up—so she could make slightly excessive demands.
"Eri-sensei, if you're interested, our authors would be delighted to have you."
After looking once more at the exquisite samples, the associate editor agreed without hesitation.
"I only have one condition…"
Eriri's eyes flashed.
"When you decide to publish a certain work, you let me, and me alone, illustrate that book."
—Late April—
One holiday evening, Yukinoshita Haruno suddenly snuck into the adolescent boy's room and whispered in his ear:
"Yukino has been quietly going out every afternoon around four or five. I'm a little worried—please help me check it out!"
And so, he accepted the side quest issued by his older sister.
"She's probably just going to play with cats, anyway."
With that thought, the next day—after Yukino had changed her shoes and left the courtyard—Kiyono quietly followed.
The fresh scent of grass, cherry blossoms scattered and fading, a gentle breeze painting the ground with charm—it was a perfect day.
Yukino turned left; he turned left. They kept pace until she reached a lonely tree in a deserted park and happily began playing with two kittens.
—Just as expected!
Kiyono wasn't surprised. Even if the cliché unfolded—the kitten climbing a tree, too scared to come down; she tries to rescue it and falls—he wouldn't be shocked!
Then a mischievous cat ran up a tree.
Then it was afraid to come down.
Then Yukino began working out a solution.
"Wait, wait!"
Kiyono's eye twitched, and he rushed out from behind a bench—still a step late. The black-haired girl sat primly on the grass, frozen. Kiyono happened to stop in front of her; their eyes met in silence.
"I—I didn't see anything, okay."
Kiyono feigned confusion and quickly turned away.
Then his sleeve was caught.
"At a time like this, the correct thing for a gentleman to do is help a lady, Mr. Kiyono."
Two emotions flickered in Yukino's indigo eyes—annoyance and warning, respectively.